Young Master
design research - packaging
Young Master is a craft beer company based in Hong Kong. The brewery prides themselves on innovative business strategies, unique flavors with depth, and dedicated brewing techniques. Though still a young company, being founded in 2013, Young Master has established a name for itself. They are one one of Asia’s highest rated and most awarded craft brewery.
During my time studying abroad at the University of the Arts London, I participated in a collaborative project with fellow Design Management students at UAL and advertising students from Hong Kong Poly Tech. Our goal for this project was to strategize how Young Master could launch their products in London.
my team and our responsibilities
Myself (UC DAAP)- Design manager, design research, packaging design, event strategy
Luca (UAL) - Design manager, marketing strategy
Seobin (HK Poly Tech) - Advertiser, design research, event strategy
Vivian (HK Poly Tech)- Advertiser, design research, social media
Jason (HK Poly Tech)- Advertiser, marketing strategy, event strategy
In an exercise in understanding and adapting to how consumers behave of different global markets, our Marketing Cultures and Communication class, challenged us to think of innovate ways to launch the Hong Kong beer brand, Young Master, in London.
Problem Space
In order to properly capture the character of Young Master, first we needed to conduct a brand audit and map out the strategic thinking of our plan to expand to London.
Research
After the Ansoff Matrix, our team mapped our three strategy pathways of Young Master’s introduction to the UK craft beer market.
1. Forge Strategic Partnerships:
Collaborate with local businesses for better market penetration: Build anticipation for the brand’s expansion and raise awareness for upcoming film festival.
2. Adapt Culturally:
Align marketing strategies with UK cultural preferences while maintaining brand’s unique identity and history.
3. Ensure Regulatory Compliance:
Meet UK brewing and labeling standards for proper integration in new market without legal issues or ramifications.
Then a SWOT analysis can be done to understand how to account for difficulties and opportunities in the plan of expanding Young Master into the London market.
It is also important to understand the thought process of the specific Young Master consumer separate from the habits of the craft beer market. Who drinks Young Master in Hong Kong and how do we find a niche audience within London?
Our Hong Kong Poly Tech teammates went to one of Young Master’s taprooms, The Ale Project, to speak to locals and to get real insight into their habits, preferences, and thoughts about the brand.
“Most of us are into indie music or film, and we like the retro vibe here.”
“I rather chat here with friends then go to a loud club. I want to relax after work.”
“I like it because they care about the whole experience, not just the beer’s taste”
Using the information gathered from this site visit, we can build personas for who we perceive to be our target audience in London based off of similar consumer habits and market research.
Our plan for the launch focused on creating excitement and raising brand awareness for Young Master by providing an experience for local Londoners.
Designing the Solution
The design strategy for the Young Master launch is a three part series of marketing techniques.
1. Social Media Campaign:
Build anticipation for the brand’s launch to the UK and raise awareness for upcoming film festival.
2. Young Master Sponsored Film Festival :
Sponsor a vintage Hong Kong film festival in London to highlight Young Master’s brand history. Create a special edition flavor to be experienced in beer flight of other Young Master drinks. The beer flight should correspond to the movies played.
3. London Young Master Tap Room:
If the film festival yields a favorable response to products, Young Master will establish a tap room inspired by the combination of England’s and Hong Kong’s cultures and shared history.
The special edition beer flavor for the film festival was the prioritized deliverable for this project. We mapped out the foundations of the festival’s rationale in order to develop the beer’s unique identity.
Young Master’s Film Festival
The beer flight has 3 foundational Young Master beers and 1 special edition flavor crafted for the London market: Goldfinch Ale, a white peach tea golden ale. The 4 flavors are ideally experienced with their corresponding movies in the festival.
I benchmarked other Young Master labels to review graphic elements and patterns. The Goldfinch Ale special edition label needed unique visual identity while still being cohesive with other labels by the brand.
Label Design Process
Exploration of Goldfinch Ale’s colors and graphics:
The final deliverable to prepare for Young Master’s launch to the UK, is the special edition flavor, Goldfinch Ale. With a refreshing, white tea flavor that will attract both UK and Hong Kong consumers, Goldfinch Ale was create to bridge the ocean between the two cultures.
Final
This project allowed me the rare opportunity to collaborate with students across the globe. By being in a team of creative thinkers from all different cultures, we were able to consider how London’s melting pot population might best connect with Young Master’s unique craft beer. Directing this project as a design manager also required me to guide our creative direction and navigate issues that arose during our process so that all members would feel fulfilled by our final result.
This project will be expanded in the future to continuing building assets for the film festival proposed in our design strategy.